Microsoft news

[Kalyan]

Microsoft to spend $9 billion on value-for-money offerings

The world is only going to scroll up from here. Inaugurating Tech.Ed 2009 here on Wednesday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said he had come to share his enthusiasm about the future of the IT industry and its role in turning around the global economy.

Mr Ballmer told the crowd of over 2,000 geeks that innovation and product advancement will be instrumental in driving the global economy into the growth phase in the next few years. "Today, IT matters more than ever before," he said.

IT had helped more than double productivity in the US over the last two decades, he said. With clients facing huge cost pressure, Microsoft plans to spend $9 billion and over 45,000 man-years to create new products and solutions that will help 'do more with less'.

These offerings will cover communication and collaboration technologies, cloud computing, virtualisation and business intelligence software, among others. Among the products Microsoft plans to launch next year are upgraded Windows Mobile, the operating system for mobile phones, and new unified communications solutions.

On cloud computing, the technology that promises to help enterprises cut costs, Mr Ballmer said that Windows Azure, its operating system hosted on virtual servers, forms the backbone of the company's software-plus-services strategy.

"We need to tie Windows PC, mobile phones and TV technologies (Xbox) into our software-plus-services strategy," he said. Speaking on the choice of India as the venue for Tech.Ed 2009, the CEO of the world's largest software company said the country was an obvious choice, being home to the largest number of computer science students.

In fact, Hyderabad is Microsoft's largest R&D centre outside Redmond with about 3,000 employees. SilverLight, Microsoft's rich Internet application for streaming multimedia content, has been developed entirely out of the capital city of Andhra Pradesh.


He told the techies gathered at the event to hone their skills. "This is the time for software developers to drive productivity and innovation. Now is the time to be more optimistic for programmers," he said.



source : economic times

[dwarakesh]

Testers to Get Office 2010 in July

Microsoft is to start shipping early copies of Office 2010 to invite-only users in July, and has begun taking names for possible invitations to the preview.

Bill Veghte, the senior vice president who runs the Windows business group, announced the upcoming Technical Preview at TechEd, the Microsoft conference that opened on Monday in Los Angeles. Also yesterday, the company unveiled a new blog dedicated to the suite and a page where users can register for the preview.

According to the Reed Shaffner, the manager of the preview programme, the beta of Office 2010 - which is currently scheduled for a first-half 2010 release - will ship in both 32- and 64-bit editions; run on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7; and work on any PC that can run its predecessor, Office 2007.

However, Shaffner was coy about any Office 2010 specifics. "We aren't ready to start demoing and sharing all of the features quite yet," he said.

Microsoft has said that it will follow July's invite-only preview with a public beta available to all. "The development pace for Office [2010] is no different than years past," said a Microsoft spokesman last month. "Technical Preview is usually invite-only, but still goes out to hundreds of thousands of people, and there is a public beta cycle where millions can download and try Office," the spokesman said.

Among the notable changes in Office are a revamped Outlook email client that will feature the 2007-esque 'ribbon' interface, and the simultaneous availability of new, lightweight online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

Previously, Microsoft said it has invested $7.7 billion in Office R&D, twice that of Windows, in an effort to ward off encroaching rivals such as OpenOffice.org and Google Docs.

People interested in applying for the Technical Preview can register by filling out a form on Microsoft's website.

The preview will include Word 2010, Excel 2010, Outlook 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Communicator 2010, Access 2010, InfoPath 2010 and Publisher 2010.

Microsoft has not disclosed pricing or even the number of different Office 2010 editions it expects to ship next year.

source: pcworld

[Kalyan]

Microsoft Surface to hit market in 6-9 months


At first sight, it's an acrylic table top, could pass off for a miniature pool table and sits on a massive black box. The box is its
heart and the table top is a high-tech touch sensitive surface. Had it been human, the surface may have screamed abuse, what with touch bringing it alive and lots more touch activating its various tasks. Well, it's a computer, called Microsoft Surface, likely to hit the market in 6-9 months.

Demonstrated at Tech Ed 2009, auto makers, hotel chains, entertainment and telecom companies have shown interest in buying the Surface.

Companies plan to use it for better customer interaction and enhancing the shopping experience. You could walk in a car showroom and get a 360 degree view of the car you want to buy, compare it with other cars, see what it looks in different colours, customise the interiors and check out the road test done by professionals — all loaded on to the Surface's computer.

Speech and touch are among the computing bastions that are now being tackled. Microsoft Surface demonstrates a Natural User Interface and very much represents the future of computing—based on touch,'' says Supreet Singh, User Experience Evangelist, Microsoft.

The black box or the heart of the Surface comprises a Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB RAM, 256 MB graphics card with a modified version of Microsoft Vista as its operating system. The computer also includes four cameras that capture the hand movements on the surface and help the software take appropriate action—like open an application, enlarge an image, transfer a ringtone (via Bluetooth
) or make a move in a virtual game of say, chess.

When objects touch the tabletop, the light reflects back and is picked up by the infrared cameras. The touch sensitive user interface is similar to that found in some phones like Apple's iPhone, but with ability for more complex tasks.

Multi-touch devices like the Surface accept input from multiple users simultaneously, allowing for complex gestures. The Surface has the added advantage of a horizontal screen, so several people can gather around and use it together.

The Microsoft Surface, in development for almost a decade, hit the US markets last year. Its global customers include BMW, AT&T and Sheraton Towers. Individuals can also use it to work or play games or maybe just use it as a coffee table. Though at $10,000 (the price it retails at in the US), the high-tech table is perhaps the most expensive coffee table you will buy.

"Surface computing is a major new concept in computing with novel ways of interacting," says Umesh Dubey, senior business manager, Vectorform, a US-based software developer

That's what excites the companies who are looking to buy it. They will enhance the customer experience with it,'' says Umesh Dubey, senior business manager, Vectorform, the US based software developer which is developing customized applications for the table.



courtesy : economic times

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft claims SAP buy plans are rumors

Couple of days back, the sources had that Microsoft may buy SAP.

But, the recent updates straight from the company sources pitch that information was just rumors. The software giant has no such acquisition plans slated on their cards. Claiming it as pure speculation, the software kingpin cleared that company is not planning to purchase the German software firm SAP.

It is contemplated that with its plans to raise funding by issuing $3.75 billion debt, the rumors might have got surfaced.

The gossips have periodically surfaced that either IBM or Microsoft might acquire the German firm.

Meanwhile, the company is busy in laying off the workforce in its attempt to reduce related costs and streamline the business operations. Earlier in this year, the company has announced that it will lay off 5000 workers and the current layoffs are part of that announcement.

Apart from these lay-offs, some more are imminent.

Source: itvoir

[sajiv]

Zune-Xbox gaming device in the works?

The Zune rumor mill has been churning for a while, with leaks of an alleged ZuneHD and maybe even a Zune smartphone. The latest rumor gathering steam is sort a riff on previous rumors: Microsoft is developing a portable digital entertainment device that bridges the gap between the Zune and the Xbox 360.

Team Xbox, which ran a story back in January with a similar theme, is the site behind the gaming Zune rumor. Team Xbox's anonymous source had some juicy tidbits to throw out, saying the Microsoft handheld, which has been dubbed the xYz, will be "unlike anything on the market today" and that we should think in terms of a mashup between the Sony Mylo, the PSP, and the iPod Touch. The source, Team Xbox says, wanted to make clear that device "lacks access to a phone network."

The article goes on to note that the graphical interface found in the New Xbox Experience will make its way onto the handheld. "Buy a song, a movie, or a TV show on your Xbox, play the content later on the handheld or the other way around," the source said. "Play an Xbox Live Arcade game either on your Xbox or in this handheld." Sony's been trying to move toward a similar relationship between the PS3 and PSP but it remains a work in progress.

So, is the rumor legit? Will we see a new portable entertainment system from Microsoft this year?

We're willing to buy into this one--to a degree. Our second-hand sources confirm that the Team XBox post is basically on the money and that Microsoft is indeed prepping a device that's designed to compete with the iPod Touch, not the iPhone. As we said, we've been hearing bits and pieces of this rumor before. For instance, some alleged ZuneHD specs that were circulating earlier referred to "3D gaming" capabilities for the device. So it makes sense that the Zune HD--or Zune xYz--will have some tie in to Xbox Live Arcade games. And hopefully, Microsoft will having something to say about it at E3 next month.

[sajiv]

Microsoft's Kumo sneaks out in public

Microsoft has begun to broaden the testing of its next-generation search technology.

For the past two months, Microsoft has been running an internal test of the technology, which is code-named Kumo. However, some of the design changes that are part of that update are now in limited public testing.

Enthusiast Ryan Rea said on Friday that he got a Live Search result that looked a lot more like screenshots of Kumo than it does to Microsoft's standard search results (see screenshot above). Of particular note is the left-hand navigation pane, a key feature of Kumo.

Rea said he started getting the new results using Live Search in Internet Explorer 8 using the release candidate build of Windows 7.

Using the same set-up, I still get the standard result, shown in the screenshot below. Microsoft told CNET News that Rea's result page is part of the company's testing efforts.

"We are continuously looking for ways to improve Live Search for both advertisers and consumers," the software maker said in a statement. "As part of that effort, we regularly conduct public tests of certain feature sets. This is an example of one such test with a very limited audience."

Microsoft is preparing for a launch of the Kumo technology as well as a rebranding of its search engine, though sources have said that name is not final and several other names have also been floating about.

Kumo, however, is expected to include more than just changes to the look of Microsoft's search engine. Among the enhancements is expected to be the inclusion of semantic search technology Microsoft got as part of last year's purchase of Powerset.

The software has a considerable game of catch-up to play as it has continued to trail Yahoo and Google despite years of investment. According to March numbers from Nielsen Online, Microsoft had 10.3 percent of the U.S. search market, as compared to 15.8 percent for Yahoo and 64.2 percent for Google.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft needs to aim new mobile OS at users

Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system for mobile phones needs to catch up in the consumer segment, said an executive.

It comes with a bee-hive user interface that allows more space to access an icon, useful in a touch-screen phone. HTC is likely to be the first handset vendor to launch phones with the new version of the operating system.

The Windows Mobile operating system competes with Symbian used on Nokia phones and newer rivals such as Google's Android platform.

Another one relates to a healthcare application for rural health workers that can be used to collect information about pregnant women in a village. The information is sent to a central database and then used to generate prescriptions.

Source: economictimes

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft to launch SharePoint Server 2010 beta soon

Microsoft, the software giant has plans to release invitation only Share Point Server 2010 beta test in July.

After the test by selected customers, the company will then follow the program up with a public testing phase ahead of the Office 2010 release in the first half of next year.

Earlier this week, the software giant cited that the Office 2010 beta slated for July will not include the SharePoint Server 2010 beta.

As per the latest updates, the SharePoint 2010 beta/technology preview will be wholly invitation-only and will target specific enterprise deployment scenarios.

Microsoft also plans to run a similar beta program for Project Server 2010.

It is in reports that a public beta will be launched for both SharePoint Server 2010 and Project Server 2010.

The 2010 edition will require a 64-bit version of SQL Server 2005 or 2008. In addition, the server will run on the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2008.

Also it won't support IE 6.

Source: itvoir

[sajiv]

A new, unpatched vulnerability exists in one of Microsoft's server products, the company warned late Monday.

In a technical bulletin, the company said it is looking into "public reports of a possible vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS)."

The company said that a flaw exists in a certain type of Web serving operation.

"An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that the WebDAV extension for IIS handles HTTP requests," Microsoft said. "An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a specially crafted anonymous HTTP request to gain access to a location that typically requires authentication."

Microsoft said it is not aware of attacks using the vulnerability. The company said it may provide an update as part of its monthly Patch Tuesday or, depending on the severity, could provide a fix outside of its monthly patching schedule.

In the meantime, the company listed on its Web site certain configuration settings that can help mitigate the impact of the flaw.

[sajiv]

Microsoft to unveil Kumo search engine next week

Microsoft will demonstrate its long-awaited next-generation search technology, code-named Kumo, next week at the D: All Things Digital technology conference, according to reports.

Both The Wall Street Journal and the All Things Digital blog (both owned by News Corp.) are citing unnamed sources saying Kumo will make its official public debut at the conference.

In response to an e-mail seeking confirmation of the reports, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company has nothing new to announce at this time.

For the past two months, Microsoft has been running an internal test of the search technology. However, some of the design changes that are part of that update are now in limited public testing, as one user seemed to discover last week (see screenshot below).

Kumo, a name sources say is not final, is expected to include more than just changes to the look of Microsoft's search engine. Among the expected enhancements is the inclusion of semantic search technology Microsoft got as part of last year's purchase of Powerset.

The software giant has a considerable game of catch-up to play as it has continued to trail Yahoo and Google despite years of investment. According to March numbers from Nielsen Online, Microsoft had 10.3 percent of the U.S. search market, as compared to 15.8 percent for Yahoo and 64.2 percent for Google.

[sajiv]

Microsoft may unveil new search engine next week

Microsoft Corp is likely to show a new version of its Internet search engine publicly for the first time next week, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The software giant has been testing a new version of the service internally under the name of Kumo.com and it may become part of the firm's attempt to catch up with Internet search leaders Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.

Microsoft has hired JWT, a unit of WPP Plc, to develop an advertising campaign for the product, the paper said, citing people familiar with the matter. The search engine is expected to be unveiled at the "D: All Things Digital" conference.

Microsoft was not immediately available for comment.

Bureau Report

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft warns server vulnerability on IIS

Microsoft has issued warnings related to an unpatched vulnerability existing in one of its server products.

The updates were broadcasted in a technical bulletin in context to possible vulnerabilities in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS). The flaw is found to exist in a certain type of Web serving operation. The flaw can be exploited by an attacker to make anonymous HTTP request to gain access to a location that typically requires authentication.

The company has a practice of releasing patches for every flaws every tuesday.

In the meantime, the company has listed on its Web site certain configuration settings that can help alleviate the impact of the flaw.

Source: itvoir

[gowtam]

"This is a significant step forward, and one that Microsoft believes will reshape how companies build data centers and support cloud computing," a Microsoft representative said in a statement.

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[ganeshbala]

Hi

Micro soft unveil new search engine..will be coming in next week.. its called  as KUMO

The Kumo project has been rumbling on within Microsoft for some time, as the company looks to replace the Live search engine - which has struggled against the might of Google - with something more successful.

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft Takes on Wii with Video Camera

Microsoft is planning to introduce a new motion control sensing 3DV video camera for Xbox 360 to take on Nintendo Wii's MotionPlus control. A Microsoft spokesperson had declined to comment on the The Wall Street Journal news. Microsoft's 3DV video camera comes from its speculated acquisition of 3DV systems.

It uses 3-D technologyfor sensing the motions of the user.

Microsoft's Research Arm is said to have worked closely with Israeli 3DV Systems for developing the 3D video camera.

Basically, Microsoft aims to increase Xbox 360's market against Nintendo Wii's popularity and sales. Another similar peripheral is used by Sony's EyeToy game that detects gestures in 2D.

Last November, we saw a similar 3D video camera from MGESTYK which does exactly the same function like that of Microsoft's 3D Video camera.

Microsoft is being rumored for unveiling this new technology at the approaching E3 Expo in Los Angeles.

Source: techtree

[sajiv]

Microsoft Vine looks like an odd social experiment. It's designed to help users send notifications to the people they need to reach in emergencies. I tried the product and found it very un-Microsoft-like. It's useless as a single-user app, and it's also oddly specific in its functionality. From Microsoft, I expect broad platforms and wide-open productivity tools. Vine is neither.

Or is it? I took my questions to Microsoft, and was routed to a person whose title made it clear that there's more going on with Vine than the product initially reveals. I ended up talking with Tammy Savage, general manager of the Microsoft Public Safety Initiative.
At its core, Vine is based on a new Microsoft platform for routing communications between different systems. The platform is built to know the various ways there are to reach anyone using it, and it tries multiple methods until it gets its message through.

For example, some emergency messages might go to users' e-mail accounts or be sent as text messages. Some may go to regular telephones, and will get converted from text to speech if necessary. If one communication method goes down (if calls can't go through after a big disaster, for instance) the platform routes messages over another until they reach enough people to satisfy the requirements of the message.

Rules dictate to whom a message goes. An emergency message to check on a child when a parent is unable to after an earthquake, for example, might only require one person who gets the message to reply to it in the affirmative to satisfy the rule. A note about a kids' soccer game being canceled due to a muddy field would keep bouncing through the system until all the parents got it.

To keep the product in front of users, so they don't forget about when they need it, Vine also lets you track local news, and it can be used it to "check in" when you're traveling, even if you're not in the middle of an emergency.

[sajiv]

Microsoft to launch new Zune later this year

Microsoft Corp plans to launch a new version of its Zune portable media player later this year in the United States, incorporating high-definition video, touch screen technology and Wi-Fi connection.

Microsoft said on Tuesday the new Zune, its answer to Apple Inc's popular iPod digital music player, will also come with an Internet browser and a built-in HD radio receiver that offers higher-quality sound than traditional radio.

It did not give a price or a specific date except to say it was due in the fall.

The company added new features to Zune's music service last year, enabling users to download music wirelessly and buy songs they hear on the device's built-in FM radio.

Bureau Report

[sajiv]

Microsoft Bing: Much better than expected

Microsoft took the wraps off Bing, the rebranded and rebuilt search engine formerly code-named Kumo, designed to replace Live Search. It's a solid improvement over the previous search product, and it beats Google in important areas. It will help Microsoft gain share in the search business. It's surprisingly competitive with Google.

Bing isn't available to the public yet, but you won't have to wait long. Starting on June 1, some users will get Bing search results from Live Search. On June 3, we're told, Bing will be Microsoft's new default search. We got early access to the service. Here's how it looks.

[sajiv]

Microsoft to patch new DirectX hole

Microsoft said it is working on a security patch for a vulnerability in its DirectX streaming media technology in Windows that could allow someone to take complete control of a computer using a maliciously crafted QuickTime file.

The remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way Microsoft DirectShow, audio and video sourcing and rendering software, handles supported QuickTime format files, the company said.

"Microsoft is aware of limited, active attacks that use this exploit code," Microsoft's security advisory said. "If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights."

Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 are vulnerable but all versions of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 are not vulnerable, according to the advisory.

For the attack to work an attacker would have to lure the victim to visit a malicious Web site that hosts the exploit. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user.

Microsoft said it would release a patch to fix the hole as soon as it is ready for broad distribution. In the meantime, details on a workaround are available here, as well a "fix it" button.

[sajiv]

How Microsoft's Bing came to be

After leaving Microsoft in 2001, Brian MacDonald found it tough to find his second act. He was involved with a few start-ups and arranged some real estate deals in the Seattle area. He even built a boat in China.

But none really offered the challenge he was seeking. So, when he had a meeting in February 2007 with Microsoft search boss Satya Nadella, he was inspired. That night, he went home and cranked out a 10-page paper on the challenges and opportunities he saw for Microsoft in search. It was in Nadella's in-box the next morning.

"I just want to work on the biggest problem in the industry," he said. By April, he was back at a desk in Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., campus.

MacDonald could hardly have found a bigger task than entering the search fray. After three years in the search business, Microsoft had yet to make any significant headway despite having spent billions of dollars.

"Search is kind of the Mount Everest of the industry right now," he said. "That's really the mountain that you want to climb."

He's been back at the company two years now, and Microsoft still finds itself at base camp, struggling to reach double digits in market share and its online business is losing hundreds of millions of dollars per quarter.

But Microsoft hasn't given up on its expedition. This week, it takes an important step. After months of testing within Microsoft's walls, the software maker is publicly detailing its plan to revamp its search engine under the name Bing.

The update consists of a new look, a new name, and new capabilities for the product. And in the process, Microsoft hopes it will also get a fresh start in what has thus far been a painful journey.

Several of the features are things championed by MacDonald. In particular, the new engine has a left-hand navigation pane for moving among different types of searches. Kumo also breaks a search query down into a number of possible categories.

When one hovers over a particular result, they get a pop-up window with more information, such as the query terms in context on the page.

In other cases, Microsoft is bringing more information into the results themselves. Type in "Amazon" and one will get not only links to that Web site, but also the company's hard-to-find customer service phone number. A search for UPS will let one track a package directly from Bing.

While potentially useful for customers, it could also be a sticking point among those whose content it is borrowing from so liberally. Product searches, for example, aggregate both user and professional reviews from various sites directly within the Bing result.

"I don't think we are trying to do something unnatural to have the person stay within the site," MacDonald said, adding that in the end the company thinks it will drive more people to the pages it is indexing.

With Bing, Microsoft also makes its interface more similar when one moves among different types of searches, such as photos or news. It's not unlike the way Outlook has some common interface tools that remain consistent even when a user switches from calendar to contacts.

"You get a different tailored experience but you still feel like you have stayed in Outlook," MacDonald said. "That's very much the integration model we have been going after."

Perhaps the biggest thing, though, MacDonald said, was the fact that the new design is opened up to allow more innovation down the road, as opposed to the classic search page with its single page of generic results.

[sajiv]

Microsoft Announces New Search Engine

Microsoft announces its new web search engine called "Bing" as an answer to Google. This has been in the wake of the growing popularity of its rival, Google. After an exhaustive research, Microsoft finally decided on "Bing". This will be replacing the "Live-Search". Live Search is at the third position after Google and Yahoo!. Live Search had earlier replaced MSN search.

"Bing" will aim at areas like online shopping, planning trips, local businesses etc. The idea is to turn the term "Bing" into a verb like "Google" or "Xerox". Google has become a verb and a synonym of "search". Analyst Shar VanBoskirk said Bing would focus on giving answers and not just web page results.
Bing will have "Quick tabs" that will enable the search terms to be refined automatically. When someone searches for a particular term, tabs will be triggered, which would subsequently throw up more searches pertaining to the main search term.

According to Microsoft, apart from keywords and algorithms, Bing will use semantic technology that will comprehend the meanings of the search terms. Semantic technology is best used for online research queries. Analyst Matt Rosoff said Bing intends to give out more information without people having to click through many search sites.

Microsoft's study shows that many people give up on online search if they fail to find the information on the first attempt. Whitney Burk, director of communications, Bing, said the search engine has been designed to facilitate the people to narrow in on the search results faster.

[rajoe]

E3 2009: Microsoft Announces Project Natal

At E3 today, Microsoft introduced Project Natal, a revolutionary way to play games in which you actually become the controller. Confused? Read on.


Project Natal (pronounced na-tall) is the code name for the new controller-free gaming and entertainment experience from Xbox 360. See a ball? Kick it, hit it, trap it or catch it. Unlike 2-D cameras and controllers, Project Natal tracks your full body movement in 3-D, while responding to commands, directions, even a difference of emotion in your voice.

[smg id=6097]


How Will Project Natal Change the Way I Play?

    * Controller-free gaming and entertainment. "Project Natal" provides a whole new way to play — no controller required. It uses a sensor to track your body movement and recognize your face, even listen to your voice. If you know how to move your hands, shake your hips, or speak, you and your friends will be able to jump instantly into any "Project Natal" experience.
    * Full-body play. "Project Natal" provides a new way to play where you use all parts of your body — head, hands, feet and torso. With controller-free gaming you don't just control the superhero, you are the superhero. Full-body tracking allows the "Project Natal" sensor to capture every move, from head to toe, to give players a full-body gaming experience.
    * Personalized play. "Project Natal" provides an in-game experience in which the player's face and voice are recognized. Greet and speak to characters in the game, or simply step into view of the sensor to log into Xbox LIVE and connect with friends. Only "Project Natal" is smart enough to remember voices and faces. Fun has never been so personalized.
    * Off-the-couch play. "Project Natal" provides gameplay that gets you off the couch, on your feet and in the fun. Each "Project Natal" experience is designed to get players moving, laughing, cheering and playing together. "Project Natal" makes social gaming off-the-couch fun.
    * Easy-to-play fun. "Project Natal" makes sharing in the fun a snap. Talk or watch a movie in the same living room or on the other side of the world — no headset, no keyboard and no controllers required. It's just you, your friends, your family and a whole new way to play.


How Does "Project Natal" Work?

    * "Project Natal" sensor. "Project Natal" is the world's first system to combine an RGB camera, depth sensor, multiarray microphone and custom processor running proprietary software that brings "Project Natal" experiences to every Xbox 360 console. The "Project Natal" sensor tracks full-body movement and individual voices, creating controller-free fun and social entertainment available only on Xbox 360.
    * RGB camera. "Project Natal" has a video camera that delivers the three basic color components. As part of the "Project Natal" sensor, the RGB camera helps enable facial recognition and more.
    * Depth sensor. An infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor allows "Project Natal" to see the room in 3-D (as opposed to inferring the room from a 2-D image) under any lighting conditions.
    * Multiarray microphone. "Project Natal" has a microphone that will be able to locate voices by sound and extract ambient noise. The multiarray microphone will enable headset-free Xbox LIVE party chat and more.
    * Custom processor (running Microsoft proprietary software layer). A proprietary software layer makes the magic of "Project Natal" possible. This layer differentiates "Project Natal" from any other technology on the market through its ability to enable human body recognition and extract other visual noise.

source:tech2

[rajoe]

E3 2009: Microsoft Adds Facebook, Twitter to Xbox Live

Microsoft Corp plans to boost social and entertainment features on its Xbox 360 gaming console by integrating music-streaming service last.fm, Web social network Facebook and microblogging site Twitter into its Xbox Live online community. Users of Xbox Live will be able to keep tabs on and communicate with friends using those popular Internet services, without needing to use a computer.

The move, announced on Monday, broadens Microsoft's goal of transforming the console system - a distant No. 2 to Nintendo's Wii machine - into the center of the living room and more than just a game-playing box. The announcement came at E3, the annual video game conference in Los Angeles, where Microsoft also unveiled new games that will play on the game system. "This expands the reach of Xbox live," said Shane Kim, Microsoft's vice president of strategy and business development for videogames. "We have had an effort of making Xbox live a next-generation social and entertainment network.

source:tech2

[rajoe]

Microsoft to Exclude ARM Netbooks for Windows 7

Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system will not run on netbooks powered by ARM chips, Microsoft said on Wednesday, a blow to the British firm's hopes of becoming a big player in the sector.

The news comes days after ARM said it planned to grab a foothold in the fast-growing netbook market this year, and that it was aiming for a 30 percent share of the entire market next year. ARM previously said netbooks using its chipsets would run on an operating system based on the open-source Linux system, which it says it prefers for its lower cost and the fact programmers can tailor it to their needs.

"For people who want a PC, albeit a different chipset, we don't think those will work very well," Steve Guggenheimer, Microsoft's corporate vice-president for original equipment manufacturers, told Reuters during an interview at Computex. "We sort of learnt in the last year that if it looks like a PC and acts like a PC, people want the features and benefits of a PC." No one at ARM was immediately available for comment. Guggenheimer also said he did not think consumers would begin choosing Google's Android operating system over Microsoft, pointing to possible compatibility issues, its Linux core and a lack of supporting software. His comments come a day after Acer became the first company to announce it would sell a PC running on Android, a move that could threaten Microsoft's stranglehold on the PC operating system market. "I'm somewhat sceptical that consumers will begin running to Android right now. You'll still want your printer to work, you'll still want your software to work," Guggenheimer said. "There's a lack of a complete ecosystem around Android." The company also does not expect the same problems with its new Windows 7 operating system that it saw with Vista, as both programs work on the same core, Guggenheimer said.

Microsoft said on Tuesday Windows 7 would be launched on Oct. 22, and would be released to manufacturers in late July, ahead of its original schedule and in time for the peak holiday shopping season at the end of the year. "Vista had some issues at the start because we were starting from a new core. This time, any computer that works with Vista will work with Windows 7."

source:tech2

[rajoe]

Russia Launches Antitrust Probe of Microsoft

Russia's state anti-monopoly service launched a probe of Microsoft Corp over cutbacks in supplies of the Windows XP operating system in Russia, it said on Thursday.

The agency said it thought Microsoft had violated antimonopoly legislation by cutting delivery of Windows XP to Russia both separately and pre-installed on personal computers, as well as in its pricing policy on the product.

"Analysis of the market for various operating systems shows that the transfer to the new Windows Vista operating system is occurring while demand for the previous operating system, Windows XP, continues," the service said. "Demand for separately packaged and pre-installed verions of Windows XP is also confirmed by retailers and the number of orders from the government." It said it would consider the case on July 24, 2009. Microsoft's Moscow office said it had not received an official query from the anti-monopoly service. "We (have) always answered antimonopoly service questions in full and intend to continue this practice in future," Microsoft spokeswoman Marina Levina said by telephone. The anti-monopoly service is regularly in contact with Russian companies but full-scale investigations are not common.

The suit bears no immediate resemblance to past antitrust claims against Microsoft, target of a U.S. antitrust lawsuit in the United States a decade ago, and which was fined 500 million euros ($708.4 million) by the European Commission in 2004 for anti-competitive behavior in media player and server software. The commission later fined Microsoft an additional 900 million euros for non-compliance but the software maker is appealing against that ruling.

source:tech2

[sajiv]

Microsoft to discontinue MS Money

Microsoft plans to stop selling Microsoft Money, its venerable, but not market-leading personal finance program, CNET News has learned.

The software maker has been notifying financial institutions and plans to announce the move to customers over the next 24 hours via a posting on its Web site and a notification in the software. Although Microsoft will stop selling the product at the end of June, it plans to support it through January 2011.

After that point, people can continue to use the product, but they will no longer be able to get automated data feeds from their banks, credit card companies and other financial service providers.

Last year, Microsoft stopped selling Money at retail stores, offering it only by Internet download. The company also said it would stop doing annual updates, but said at the time it planned to continue offering the product.

Microsoft's Adam Sohn said the company now plans to halt sales of the product at the end of the month. A variety of factors led the company to change course.

"It's a mix of what's going on in the market, what makes sense for long-term for us and a little bit on consumer behavior," said Sohn, a director in Microsoft's Online Business Services unit.

The discontinuation of Money is one of the more high-profile product cuts made in the wake of the company's cost-cutting efforts, which began in January. Microsoft said in March it was largely discontinuing its Encarta encyclopedia and has also scrapped its Windows OneCare antivirus product.

As of Wednesday, Microsoft had made no mention of its plans on the Web site. Rather it was offering to sell Money for $59 and featured a link for financial institutions to get more involved in the product.

Sohn said that the company plans to continue selling Money through the end of the month and hasn't made a plan to offer refunds to recent buyers of the product. Those who have recently bought the product, he said, still have a good while to get the value from it. (Microsoft will support Money slightly longer for those who have recently bought the product, per its licensing terms).

Plus, he said, some people will continue to use it even after the automatic services stop. At that point, consumers will have to manually download information from their banks and other service providers. "After Jan 31, 2011, the product will work," he said. "It just wont have the rich-services back end."

Although Microsoft will support current partners pushing data to Money users, it won't be adding any new institutions. It will, however, let current partners re-brand themselves.

The software maker also plans to continue its MSN Money Web site, although Sohn said the company opted not to try to recreate the full Money program on the Web.

Competing with Intuit and Mint
Microsoft has long been chasing Intuit's Quicken. Microsoft even tried to buy Intuit in the mid-1990s, but the Justice Department blocked the move.

In subsequent years, Microsoft has continued the product but also has continued to trail Quicken's sales. More recently, Money has also faced a new wave of Internet-based competitors, such as Mint.com and Intuit's free Web-based Quicken Online program.

The company has been trying for years to grapple with massive changes in the consumer packaged software market as much of that business moves online.

Although its core Office and Windows products remain strong sellers at retail, the company has opted to scale back in other areas, particularly in the purely consumer arena.

In addition to canning Encarta, Microsoft also stopped selling its Digital Image Suite product after the release of Windows Vista.

Update, 2:40 p.m.: Microsoft has now posted a notice on its Web site.

"With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed," Microsoft said. "We would like to thank the many dedicated users who have been enthusiastic supporters of Microsoft Money over the years, as well as our partner financial institutions who helped pioneer a digital vision of financial management."

Meanwhile, I also spoke with a spokesman for Intuit, who said that the company is looking at ways to make it easier for Microsoft Money users to bring their data over to that product.

"We look it as an opportunity to show Microsoft Money customers what they have been missing... over the years," Intuit spokesman Scott Gulbransen said.

Although Intuit has recently been bulking up its free online product, Gulbransen said that the company is committed to also offering PC-based software. "We are committed to those who would like to stay with a desktop software solution," he said.

[sajiv]

Longtime Microsoft executive leaving company

Microsoft confirmed on Friday that longtime executive Sanjay Parthasarathy is leaving the software maker after 19 years.

Parthasarathy, the corporate vice president in charge of Microsoft's Startup Business Accelerator program, plans to retire from the company in September, a Microsoft representative said. Microsoft said his departure had been planned for some time and that it is unrelated to recent job cuts at the company.

His responsibilities will be taken over by Amit Mital, who runs the "Unlimited Potential" unit that handles emerging markets. Mital will handle duties for both units, though they will remain separate operations. Mital, like Parthasarathy, reports to chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie.

Prior to heading the start-up unit, Parthasarathy had been running Microsoft's developer and platform evangelism team--the group responsible for efforts such as Channel 9 and the Imagine Cup competition.

He joined Microsoft in August 1990 as a product manager in the Windows multimedia group.

Parthasarathy's departure was reported earlier Friday by PaidContent.org.

[rajoe]

Microsoft to Sell Windows in EU Without Browser

Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it would ship the newest version of its Windows operating system in Europe without its Internet Explorer web browser, in a move to counter European regulators' concerns that the company unfairly forces out competition from other browser makers.

The apparent climbdown comes shortly before the European Commission is due to rule on antitrust charges brought against Microsoft in January, claiming that the world's largest software company abuses its dominant position by bundling its Internet Explorer browser, shielding it from head-to-head competition with rival products. Until now, Microsoft has claimed that the browser was an integral part of the operating system and should not be pulled out;, but it now plans to do that for a European version of Windows 7, due to be rolled out later this year.

source:tech2

[rajoe]

Microsoft Files Lawsuit Over "Click Fraud"

Microsoft Corp filed a lawsuit against three individuals believed to be based in Vancouver, accusing them of a form of "click fraud" by improperly using Microsoft's online advertising service for profit, court documents show.

In the suit filed on Monday in a U.S. federal court in Seattle against the three individuals and companies they are believed to control, Microsoft said it suffered at least $750,000 as a result of the click fraud scheme. Under the scheme, large groups of people or automated computer scripts click on online advertisements without having any interest in the services or product being advertised. The Redmond, Washington-based company said it traced the source of allegedly fraudulent traffic back to the defendants, Eric Lam, Gordon Lam and Melanie Suen.

Microsoft alleges that advertisements for the defendants' websites displaced their competitors' advertisements. Reuters could not immediately reach the defendants for comment.

source:tech2

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft announces Windows 7 Prices, upgradation plan

Microsoft Corp, the software giant has announced the prices of the main consumer version of Windows 7, the new operating system.

The Redmond based company has reduced the prices on its most popular retail Windows product, the Home Premium upgrade version, by approximately 10 percent. In US, this means a drop from $130 to $120, a savings of $10. For the Home Premium full version, the price drops from $240 to $200. However, Microsoft has not touched the pricing for the Professional edition.

When full copies of Windows 7 go on sale in October, Microsoft plans to charge for the up gradation, $119 for Home Premium, $199 for Professional and $219 for Ultimate.

Also, the company charge for full retail products, $199 for Home Premium, $299 for Professional and $319 for Ultimate.

The company is under pressure to encourage customers to move rapidly to Windows 7, following a poor critical reception to its predecessor, Windows Vista, at the time of challenging economy.

source: itvoir

[pujunna]

http://discuss.itacumens.com/index.php

[dwarakesh]

Microsoft unravels pricing plans for Windows 7 family pack, bundles IE

Microsoft, the software giant has finally unravelled the prices for family pack of Windows 7. The family pack version for Windows 7 primarily allows users to upgrade up to three PCs to the Home Premium edition of the operating system.

This proposition  was offered long back but no prices were revealed at that time. This actually seems to be a good  bet for those who intend to facilitate upgrade from XP or Vista to Windows 7. Also, the company has announced pricing for the Windows Anytime Upgrade option.

The upgrade from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 7 Home Premium will cost $79.99. Among the other prices, the move from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Professional will cost $89.99, whereas upgrade process from Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate will cost consumers $139.99.

Source: itvoir

[sajiv]

Microsoft pulling Live Framework test bits

Microsoft said on Friday that it plans next month to end support for a test version of its Live Framework, which was essentially the developer side of its Live Mesh service.

The idea of Live Framework is to give developers of Web-based applications the ability to add desktop components, while those writing traditional applications could use the Live Framework to add synchronizing and other online capabilities.

In a blog posting, Microsoft said it plans to integrate many of the concepts behind the Live Framework into the next version of Windows Live. In the mean time, though, developers will lose access to the test version of the Live Framework as of September 8.

"The Live Framework will be integrated into the next release of Windows Live. Stay tuned to Dev.live.com for more details in the future," Microsoft said in its blog. "If you are a Live Framework technology preview user, we ask you to please download any data and/or code from the service prior to September 8th as well as remove your devices from the service."

Developers can expect to hear more about where Microsoft plans to go with Live Framework at this November's Professional Developer Conference.

Microsoft rolled out the Live Framework as a community technology preview at last year's Professional Developer Conference, though its launch was somewhat overshadowed by the debut of Windows Azure. At the time, Microsoft said it was supporting both platforms, with Azure being a more basic set of building blocks and the Live Framework a collection of more finished services.

Microsoft's consumer-facing Live Mesh application is not affected by the move, Microsoft said.

Organizationally, Microsoft moved the Live Mesh effort into the Windows Live unit at the beginning of the year.

[sajiv]

Microsoft dials up emerging-market phone push

Microsoft on Monday announced plans for mobile software that aims to allow people in emerging markets to access various Internet programs using lower-end feature phones.

The software, known as OneApp, is due out later this year and should allow people in emerging markets to access services like Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger using the kinds of inexpensive phones most often sold for $20 or $30. Microsoft said Blue Label Telecoms in South Africa will be the first to use OneApp and will use it to offer phones that ship with a dozen mobile applications, including a mobile wallet program as well as the social-networking tools.

While not an operating system, OneApp is a software environment within which many kinds of programs can run. The key to OneApp, Microsoft said, is the fact that the applications and data run largely from the cloud. That means that OneApp can run on phones with rather meager memory and processing abilities. OneApp itself takes up only about 150 kilobytes of memory, as opposed to the many megabytes often used on programs for smartphones. Individual applications can be as small as 10 to 15 kilobytes.

"When you launch an application, (OneApp) only loads the part of the application that you want," said Amit Mital, the corporate vice president in charge of Microsoft's "unlimited potential" unit, which focuses on emerging markets. "We use very intelligent and sophisticated caching. The rest of it sits in the cloud."

Microsoft has been working on OneApp for the past year and a half, noting that there are hundreds of millions of feature phones in emerging markets, most of which aren't being used to run software.

"People have used them just for voice and SMS" (Short Message Service), Mital said. "What we want to do is unlock their power so they can be used from a broader set of services and applications."

The move comes as Microsoft is also struggling to keep up in the smartphone race against heightened competition from the likes of Apple, Google, Research In Motion, and others. Microsoft said that OneApp is separate from its Windows Mobile efforts.

Mital stressed that OneApp is an adjunct to Windows Mobile, which is still the company's bet for smartphones, and is largely aimed at emerging markets, rather than developed ones.

OneApp is Microsoft's plan for developing markets for the here and now. Longer-term, Microsoft has been exploring a concept called "phone plus," in which a smartphone could be plugged into a television and keyboard to act as a sort of basic computer.

With OneApp, Microsoft will find itself competing against applications written for Sun's J2ME.

Mital said that the big advantage of OneApp is that programs written for it should run on most OneApp-enabled phones, something he said is often not the case with Java.

"If you build an app for one phone it may or may not work on another phone," Mital said. "The development cost is extremely excessive. You go through the development cycle over and over. That is just debilitating."

For now, Microsoft is working directly with select partners to develop OneApp, but eventually Microsoft plans to release a software development kit to allow others to write their own OneApp programs. Programs for OneApp can be written using tools like XML and JavaScript, Mital said. "The world does not need another new programming paradigm. We were very determined to use existing programming paradigms."

In addition to Blue Label Telecoms, which is launching shortly, Mital said that Microsoft hopes to announce one or two more carriers using OneApp before the end of the year.

Although there are plenty of feature phones still shipping in developed markets, such as the United States and Europe, Mital said Microsoft is focusing on emerging markets.

"Right now my team is extremely focused on emerging markets," Mital said. "There's literally billions of customers in these markets."

[sajiv]

Microsoft coy on apps for Zune HD

While confirming that the Zune HD now sports an Apps menu, Microsoft is being circumspect on just how extensive the collection of programs it plans to offer for the media player will be.

An eagle-eye user this weekend spotted an Apps menu on some of the devices being demonstrated at Best Buy outlets as part of a preview weekend. Microsoft suggested on Monday that the Apps menu and Zune Marketplace will be home to the types of games found on past Zunes but hedged on whether and when it might offer a broader selection of software.

"Games came pre-loaded on the current version of the device, but we made a decision to take them out of the firmware update and let people choose what games they want to have for themselves--and it made sense to do this via Marketplace," a representative told CNET News. "As before, games are free; the only difference is that people get to choose. Right now, we don't have anything further to say regarding Apps functionality beyond what we've already shared."

Early versions of the device seen by CNET News had a games menu, but the games were similar to the kinds of free games included in the past.

Microsoft suggested that the Apps menu, for the moment, might just be an outlet for such games. However, the company is clearly leaving the door open for much more.

"We have games on the Zune today and those will carry forward to Zune HD, but that's not where we'll necessarily stop," Microsoft said.

The Zune HD is slated to go on sale September 15, though Best Buy and Microsoft are also taking pre-orders for the product. A 16GB version will sell for $219, while a 32GB version is priced at $289.

[sajiv]

Microsoft apologizes for race-swap photo incident

Microsoft apologized Tuesday for using photo editing techniques to change the race of a person depicted on the company's Web site.

In a photo on the company's U.S. Web site, three businesspeople--one black, one white and one Asian are shown as part of a pitch for Microsoft's business productivity software. In the same photo on the site of Microsoft's Polish subsidiary, a white head is placed over the black person's body, although the hand is not changed.

The move sparked controversy after it was noticed, quickly making the rounds on Twitter and various Web sites.

"We are looking into the details of this situation," a Microsoft representative told CNET News. "We apologize and are in the process of pulling down the image" from the Polish site. Microsoft also apologized on its corporate Twitter feed.

[apple]

Microsoft Internet Mail and News was a freeware e-mail and news client and ancestor of Outlook Express. The version 1.0 was released in 1996 following the Internet Explorer 3.0 release.

Tummy Tuck Complications
Euro Millions

[sajiv]

Microsoft sorry for gaffe in online ad

Software giant Microsoft apologised on Wednesday, Aug 27, for editing out a black man from an advertisement run in Poland.

The ad featured three business people, a white woman, a black man and an Asian man, sitting around a conference table.

The same photo was used by Microsoft for an ad run in Poland but the black man had been edited out of the image and replaced with a white man.

"We apologised, fixed the error and we are looking into how it happened," said Lou Gellos, a Microsoft spokesman.

On Microsoft's official page on the social network site Twitter, described it as "a marketing mistake" and offers "sincere apologies."

[sajiv]

Microsoft's agency sued over Bing TV advertising

I have never watched NBC's "The Philanthropist." (I have embedded a small excerpt, to offer you a little excitement.)

However, the show seems to be the battleground for a less than altruistic lawsuit against Microsoft Bing's ad agency, JWT and its holding company, WPP.

According to AdAge, the plaintiff, a Delaware-based company specializing in "program-integrated advertising" called Denizen, is claiming that it was in discussions with WPP as long ago as 2002.

These talks seem to have gone on for more than four years and Denizen claims it had a confidentiality agreement in place.

However, when they espied "The Philanthopist," they saw ads outside the normal commercial break for search engine Bing featuring the actors in the show (yes, Neve Campbell still lives and prospers), ads that had a "plot advancing element."

This appears to be key in Denizen's claims to patent infringement. (Here's the patent, if you enjoy reading that kind of thing.)

Naturally the lawsuit uses such strongly sensitive words as "malicious" and "willful."

Not having the patent to be a lawyer, let alone a patent lawyer, I am grateful that a person whose commenting handle is "nvpatentlawyer" offered this opinion in AdAge: "If someone wants to invalidate this patent, it would likely take very little effort to do so because, if it is not 'anticipated,' it is certainly 'obvious' in view of past practices in the U.S."

I'm not the finest googler in the world, but I am struggling to find a Web site that might belong to Denizen. I tried "binging" too, without joy.

Which leaves me with this strange thought: is it possible that, in these dark economic times, Denizen might, when the shoving has overtaken the pushing, still like to enter into a partnership with the somewhat larger WPP?

I don't know what made me think of that. It's the patent cynic that lurks beneath my armpit, perhaps.

[sajiv]

Microsoft reports attacks using IIS vulnerability

A vulnerability in Microsoft's software for housing Web sites is now being used for "limited attacks" on the servers it's running on, the company said Friday.

Microsoft disclosed the Internet Information Services (IIS) vulnerability on Monday and said Friday it's still working on a security update to fix the problem. In the meantime, the advisory has instructions for a workaround, including disabling various elements of the vulnerable FTP (File Transfer Protocol) service to upload and download files.

According to the advisory, the vulnerability could let somebody run arbitrary code on a server using FTP on IIS 5.0 and conduct a denial-of-service attack using FTP on IIS 5.1, 6.0, and 7.0. The present version 7.5 isn't affected, though, and FTP 7.5 can be downloaded and installed on IIS 7.0 to protect it.

"Customers should be aware that the Download Center has FTP 7.5 available for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. FTP 7.5 is not vulnerable to any of these exploits," said Alan Wallace, senior communications manager for Microsoft's security response communications team, in a statement.

Initially, the company said it was investigating a vulnerability only with versions 5 and 6 of IIS.

[sajiv]

Microsoft sues over malicious online ads

Aiming to crack down on a growing problem, Microsoft said it filed five lawsuits Thursday against parties it suspects of posting online advertisements laden with malicious code.

Microsoft has tried to work with ad networks to thwart such "malvertising" in the past, but this is the first time it has gone to court.

"Our filings in King County Superior Court in Seattle outline how we believe the defendants operated, but in general, malvertising works by camouflaging malicious code as harmless online advertisements," Microsoft Associate General Counsel Tim Cranton said in a blog posting.

In each case, Microsoft is suing the unknown parties responsible for the ads.

"Although we don't yet know the names of the specific individuals behind these acts, we are filing these cases to help uncover the people responsible and prevent them from continuing their exploits," Cranton said.

In the past week, The New York Times' Web site was hit with a rogue advertisement that told readers that their computer may be infected with a virus and redirected them to a site that purports to offer antivirus software.

"Scareware is often distributed among criminals, which therefore results in many of the animations a user may see utilizing a common design and interface," a Microsoft told CNET News. "However, without additional information and specific details about the attacks, we cannot be certain that any of today's filings directly relate to the attacks on The New York Times' Web site."

Microsoft likened the latest lawsuits to prior legal action that it has taken against those suspected of click fraud or instant messaging spam.

"This work is vitally important because online advertising helps keep the Internet up and running," Cranton said. "It's the fuel that drives search technologies. It pays for free online services like Windows Live, Facebook, Yahoo, and MSN. Fraud and malicious abuse of online ad platforms are therefore a serious threat to the industry and for all consumers and businesses that rely on these free services."

[lillyglobe]

BANGALORE: Microsoft Corporation India on Monday announced the Release-to-Manufacture of Windows HPC server 2008, its latest offering in the high performance computing segment.
With this, Windows HPC Server 2008 will be available to independent software vendors and computer manufacturers for final distribution, a release said.
Windows HPC server 2008 provides an easy-to-deploy cost-effective and scalable high-performance computing solution-which combines the power of Windows server platform with rich,out-of-the-box functionality to help enhance productivity and reduce complexity of any given HPC environment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
hot air ballooning Cairns
anavar

[Kalyan]

Microsoft's new Windows a hit, but no revolution

Investors expecting Microsoft Corp's new operating system to juice the company's shares or spur a recovery in technology spending are likely to be disappointed, even if users embrace the new software.

A successful introduction of Windows 7 next week has largely been factored into Microsoft's share price, which jumped nearly 80 percent since March. Investors are now more wary of a sell-off than looking for further gains.

The new operating system, arguably Microsoft's most important product launch since Windows 95 a decade ago, arrives as demand is growing to replace aging software and hardware.

Some hope it will energize a corporate spending cycle curtailed by the worst recession since the Great Depression, but most analysts agree that its effect on Microsoft and the broader technology sector will be more gradual.


"I'm not expecting this huge wave in new revenue," said Kim Caughey, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, which holds Microsoft shares. "It's going to be more of a gentle drift upward."

PC sales are expected to rise 12.6 percent next year, according to research firm Gartner, but the strength of the next phase of computer buying is at the mercy of the economy.

"There's pent-up demand for a better operating system that will start unfolding next year," said Sid Parakh, an analyst at brokerage McAdams Wright Ragen. "But that is conditioned on what the economy does from here. If things get a lot worse, we shouldn't expect as big of an upgrade cycle as everyone is thinking about today."

BOTTOM-LINE IMPACT

The new operating system, which has been available in test format for months, has been praised by reviewers as a replacement for the unpopular Vista, launched almost three years ago.

The new system is more of an upgrade to Vista than an overhaul, and is expected to work on most PCs without a hitch. Computer and chip makers such as Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell and Intel have welcomed its release.

But even a flawless roll-out may not be enough to kick-start a new spending cycle.

"At best, Windows 7 may generate a modest bump in home demand and possibly some added demand among small businesses," said Gartner's research director George Shiffler.

"We aren't expecting most larger businesses, governments and educational institutions to express strong demand for the new operating system until late 2010."

The effect of Windows 7 on Microsoft's finances is not straightforward.

First, many of Microsoft's corporate clients don't make one-time software purchases. They have long-term subscriptions called enterprise agreements that involve "software assurance," which means customers are entitled to the latest versions of systems or applications in the agreement.

Consequently, many companies have in effect already bought Windows 7, regardless of whether they install it.

The financial effect of licensing the operating system to PC makers is also difficult to gauge. Microsoft closely guards what it charges, but it is no secret that prices have been under pressure as PC sales have waned.

[Kalyan]

The rise of cheap netbooks -- compact laptops chiefly for e-mail and web surfing -- means Microsoft will sell a growing proportion of the cheapest version of Windows 7 for PC makers to install.

As for individual customers, Microsoft chief financial officer Christopher Liddell said last month that off-the-shelf sales of Vista contributed $200 million to $300 million to revenue in the months after launch, and he was expecting similar or greater for Windows 7.

That is tiny for a company that booked overall sales of $58 billion in the last fiscal year.

CLOUDY FINANCIALS

Results for the first quarter of Microsoft's current fiscal year are scheduled for next Friday, the day after the launch of Windows 7.

Wall Street expects revenue to fall to $12.4 billion from $15 billion a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters, while operating profit is also seen declining.

This is partly due to more than $1 billion in revenue from sales of operating systems in the quarter being deferred, because Microsoft is guaranteeing a free upgrade to customers who recently bought Vista.

That, along with holiday sales, explains why analysts are expecting a surge in revenue to $17.1 billion for its fiscal second quarter, which ends in December.

All of this means that the financial effect of Windows 7 may not be clear for some time, said Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, an independent consultancy.

"If in six months we aren't seeing people willingly buying this system, then there's a problem."

[sajiv]

Microsoft: Strong Windows demand helps earnings

Microsoft said strong demand for Windows and Xbox buoyed the company's financial results in the past quarter.

The software maker said Friday that it earned $3.57 billion, or 40 cents per share, on revenue of $12.92 billion for its fiscal first quarter, which ended September 30. Microsoft also deferred $1.47 billion in revenue ahead of the launch of Windows 7. Adding that back in, revenue would have been $14.39 billion and per-share earnings would have been 52 cents.

Those results topped forecasts, although sales are still down from a year ago.

"We are very pleased with our performance this quarter and particularly by the strong consumer demand for Windows," Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in a statement. "We also maintained our cost discipline, which allowed us to drive strong earnings performance despite continued tough overall economic conditions."

On the Windows front, Microsoft saw the number of PCs shipping with Windows grow 6 percent in the quarter even though PC sales overall were anywhere from flat to up 2 percent. Microsoft cited, among other reasons, the fact that more Netbooks are using Windows compared with a year ago.

Overall demand for Windows was strong, the company said, with the software seeing its highest first-quarter unit sales ever and September being the strongest overall unit sales in the company's history.

The company sold 2.1 million Xbox consoles in the quarter, according to a PowerPoint chart posted on Microsoft's investor Web site. That's just slightly down from the 2.2 million units sold in the same quarter a year ago, but up from the 1.2 million consoles sold in the previous quarter.

In a conference call, Liddell said that the company sees the economy remaining tough during the current fiscal year, but noted some potential for improvement.

The earnings report came a day after Microsoft launched Windows 7 and followed the disappointing previous quarter when the company reported weaker-than-expected results.

The company said Friday it is continuing to cut costs. In the current fiscal year, which runs through the end of June, Microsoft said it now expects operating expenses of $26.2 billion, a drop of $300 million from its prior forecast.

Microsoft normally releases its earnings in the afternoons, but it moved the report from Thursday afternoon so it wouldn't step on the toes of the Windows 7 launch.

The company continued to lose a significant amount in its online business, with the operating loss growing to $480 million from $321 million a year ago. Revenue for its online business, which includes Bing and MSN, dropped to $490 million from $520 million a year ago. However, Microsoft said it has seen a mid-single-digit increase in U.S. search revenue.

Looking ahead, Liddell said that Microsoft sees some signs that more businesses will buy new PCs starting next year, though the upgrade cycle will probably stretch over several years.



For the current fiscal year, Microsoft said it expects Windows sales to roughly reflect the PC market, while Office unit sales will lag. It expects its server unit to slightly outpace the overall market, while entertainment unit sale should be roughly flat. For its online business, Microsoft said it expects to outperform the broader market, excluding its MSN Internet access business.

Liddell said Microsoft continues to be hopeful that its search deal with Yahoo will gain needed regulatory approvals and be completed early in calendar year 2010. Liddell said to expect $100 million to $200 million in costs related to that deal, if it closes.

Here's a chart of last quarter's segment-by-segment results, though keep in mind that the Windows numbers are affected by the amount that Microsoft deferred because of the coming launch of Windows 7.

[sajiv]

Microsoft shuffles Zune, Media Center units
Microsoft is quietly making another shuffle within its entertainment units. Less than a year after consolidating the Zune, Media Center and Mediaroom efforts under Enrique Rodriguez, the software maker has shuffled things up again.

Mediaroom, Microsoft's Internet Protocol television effort, will become a standalone business under Entertainment unit head Robbie Bach, while Media Center andZune software will move under Don Mattrick, who heads Microsoft's broader Interactive Entertainment Business unit. In a statement, Microsoft called it a "natural evolution" of the business.
Less than a year ago, though, Microsoft was touting the strategic advantages of combining all of these products as part of a cohesive entertainment strategy. I asked what had changed in 11 months but did not get a response.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez's fate is now unclear, with the longtime Microsoft executive said to be looking for a new gig both inside and outside of the company.
"Enrique Rodriguez has decided to move on from his leadership position running the TV, Video, and Music business, and he is evaluating his next opportunity," Microsoft said, without offering more details.

[sajiv]

Microsoft eyes clean break with Windows Mobile 7
Microsoft's long and winding road toward regaining lost ground in the cell phone business will reach an important milestone in Barcelona next month.
At the annual Mobile World Congress event, Microsoft will at long last show off Windows Mobile 7--its oft-delayed major revamp of the decade-old Windows CE code base that has been at the core of its mobile operating system since the days of challenging the Palm Pilot.
Sources told CNET that Microsoft is still planning to finalize the code for Windows Mobile 7 by summer in order to have the new software on devices that ship before the end of the year.
Separately, though, Microsoft is also working on a new consumer phone line, early pictures of which cropped up last year, that is designed to be the next generation of the Sidekick product line that Microsoft inherited with its acquisition of Danger.
Although it is not a widely rumored "Zune Phone," the new consumer device is based on Windows Mobile and likely to be able to connect toZune and other consumer services that Microsoft has been developing for some time now, sources said. That product, also due to arrive this year, should come earlier in the year ahead of Windows Mobile 7 devices.
Microsoft declined to comment on Windows Mobile 7 or the new consumer device, but Robbie Bach, the head of the company's entertainment division, did tell CNET in an interview at January's Consumer Electronics Show that Microsoft would have a lot more to say about the future of the phone business in Barcelona. Microsoft has also promised developers headed to the Mix 10 trade show in March that they will be able to get information on how to program for Windows Mobile 7.
"Yes, at MIX10 you'll learn about developing applications and games for the next generation of Windows Phone," Microsoft said on the Mix Web site in a Jan. 20 update. "Yes, we'll have Phone sessions, and we can't say more...yet."
Although Microsoft has typically been loath to make major changes to the desktop version of Windows at the expense of compatibility, the software maker appears ready to make a bigger break with its mobile past--a sensible move given its declining share of both the market and developer interest.
With Windows Mobile 7 hit by several delays, Microsoft last year released Windows Mobile 6.5, an interim update designed to make the current operating system more "finger-friendly" on touch-based devices. The company also rebranded devices using its operating system as "Windows Phones" and launched a new marketing campaign.
At the same time, though, longtime Windows Mobile phone makers including Motorola and HTC have been gravitating toward Google's Android mobile phone operating system. LG, which had planned to center its smartphone efforts on Windows Mobile, has also said it will offer a number of Android-based devices.

[Kalyan]

Microsoft buys skype for $8.5 billion



Software giant Microsoft Corporation on Friday (Today) has bought the Internet Communication company, Skype Communication for $8.5 billion in its biggest acquisitions deal.

"Skype is a phenomenal product and brand that is loved by hundreds of millions of people around the world. We look forward to working with the Skype team to create new ways for people to stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues - anytime, anywhere," said in a statement by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

With the new acquisition, Skype's CEO Tony Bates will head the Skype divisions in Microsoft. "By bringing together the best of Microsoft and the best of Skype, we are committed to empowering consumers and businesses around the globe to connect in new ways. Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype's goal to reach one billion users daily," said Bates.

Skype is a software application that offers users to make voice and video calls and chats over the Internet. It has also some value added services (VAS) like instant messaging, file transfer, and videoconferencing.

The Skype was founded in 2003 and has 633 million registered users as of September, 2011.


source: one india

[pradeep prem]

they are developing in high

they have growth to high rise with generation four

they have excellent idea